Four Bayonne Council members say goodbye

Monday, June 28, 2010

By CHARLES HACK

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

"It's done," Bayonne Council President
Vincent Lo Re Jr. exclaimed as he banged the gavel to close
last week's City Council meeting.

The moment on Wednesday represented more than an
exclamation point to another council get-together. It marked
the end of a chapter in council leadership. Lo Re, 63, and
Second Ward Councilman John Halecky, 72, were both retiring
after 20 years on the council. And they weren't the
only departures.

After serving two terms on the council, First Ward
Councilman Theodore Connolly, 62, was also calling it quits.
And Third Ward Councilman Gary La Pelusa Sr., 43, was also
leaving, having lost in a run-off election against one of
the five successful candidates Mayor Mark Smith backed in
this year's municipal elections.

"There have been a lot of positive things
happening," said Halecky, noting the extension of the
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail into Bayonne, the new Cape Liberty
Cruise Port and Bayonne Golf Club, and the John J. Halecky
Park named in his honor.

"In the next four years with this administration
things will be better, although the economy has to turn
around first," added Halecky, who sold his pharmacy
business a couple of years ago and plans to spend more time
fishing in the Pocono Mountains "to catch that elusive
10-pound bass."

Lo Re, a former educator - whose wife, School 14 Principal
Janice Lo Re, is retiring next week after 33 years with
Bayonne Public Schools - said he's looking forward to
spending time with his grandchildren, Sofia, two years old,
and Siena, two months old.

Connolly said during a six-minute speech of thanks that
his wife kept him "afloat for eight years" and
said he is proud of the people of Bayonne for keeping it the
"special place that it is."

"It was an honor," Connolly said. "It is a position that in my life I never thought I would achieve." La Pelusa, who was hoping for a second term, will continue to run his landscaping business and his civic association....